Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DMMagic 02-28-05, 11:45 PM	So, awhile ago I started playing a campaign with some new friends. Our first day was typical: fine-tuning our characters and getting the history and setting of our campaign to come. The DM described the world as being highly dependent on diamonds as a commodity. In fact, there was only one area that had diamonds, and it was the cause of a great war. After some more description, it was becoming obvious that the area was modeled after the Middle east. The diamond area seemed to closely resemble Saudi Arabia as it holds you-scratch-my-back alliances with other powerful regions. We were all thinking the same thing, I imagine, so I asked, "So who's Bush in all of this?" He said, "Oh, you'll see." It was actually pretty funny. But it made me think. I began to wonder about how the current situation in Iraq might be influencing these games nationally or internationally. How do liberal DMs set it up versus conservative DMs? From what perspective might international DMs use? How close do the campaigns resemble the war? How do the players' political biases affect their character? Do conservative players/DMs try out the liberal side and visa versa? Which alignments most-resemble conservative opinions of the war versus liberal ones? What other events in history have affected the game? Et cetera. Have any of you played a campaign clearly based on the current events of that time? Did it cause any friction between players of opposing ideologies? I DON'T want this to be a politically-charged flame-war, I'm just interested in how players might bring in politics or current events, consciously or sub-consciously.
Shemeska the Marauder 03-01-05, 12:39 AM	I began to wonder about how the current situation in Iraq might be influencing these games nationally or internationally. I doesn't. I don't play DnD to remind myself of any current events, nor do I talk politics at the gaming table. My group is split about 60/40 right/left on issues, and its just wise not to even get into politics at all. Suffice to say, this thread is going to be a powderkeg. I won't be the one to light it though.
Bulabase 03-01-05, 12:55 AM	The current geo-political situation regarding oil is hardly unique to history or fiction. That's what happens when a society is overly dependent on a single resource it is incapable of supplying locally. Interestingly, in the real world, diamonds are that way too. We just don't need them as much. It sounds like a good idea for a game. As long is it isn't too much like the real world, I would enjoy it. Try reading Dune if you haven't already. That book deals with the same problem.
Habronicus 03-01-05, 12:56 AM	Well, it is said that even Tolkien based himself on his experience in World War I when he wrote the Lord of the Rings, so it's not much of a stretch to imagine that many GMs use real world events as "inspiration" - the secret is to do it without the players blatantly realizing it. Personally, I avoid doing that but then who's to say that I don't let some of my real life personal beliefs transpire into the game? I mean, take Alignment as an example. As the GM it's up to me to judge what is Good, Evil, Lawful or Chaotic, so I bet some real life influence is there when I make a judgement. Writers, Movie Directors and Game Masters... is there a difference? Yes, in how much money each makes when they create a world.
Escef 03-01-05, 01:28 AM	Other than a couple odd jokes, real world political references usually don't make it into my D&D games.
Shemeska the Marauder 03-01-05, 01:58 AM	Interestingly, in the real world, diamonds are that way too. We just don't need them as much. Not really. Diamonds, except for the larger sizes of gem quality diamonds, are not all that rare. In fact, their price is not reflective of their value on a free market. It's just that the supply trickled out onto the world market every year is controlled to inflate the price by a very small group of suppliers (largely the De Beers cartel). Standard Oil never had as controlling a monopoly over oil as De Beers has over diamonds.
DMMagic 03-01-05, 02:56 PM	The current geo-political situation regarding oil is hardly unique to history or fiction. Well, I was leaving out a lot of other details in the campaign history. I was just giving a brief intro to the idea; but know that there were other factors that made the parallel quite clear. Well, it is said that even Tolkien based himself on his experience in World War I when he wrote the Lord of the Rings, so it's not much of a stretch to imagine that many GMs use real world events as "inspiration" - the secret is to do it without the players blatantly realizing it. Right. I'm certain GMs are influenced by their political ideologies; it would be impossible not to. That's why I'm interested in campaigns that ARE "blatantly" based on things that have happened internationally within, say, a year tops. Our DM had the advantage of knowing that everyone at the table was pretty much aligned politically. Suffice to say, this thread is going to be a powderkeg. I won't be the one to light it though. So far so good. Anyway, I'm more interested in just general current-event-mimicking in campaigns than I am the politics OF those events. Probably hard to separate out, but there you have it.
jasper 03-01-05, 03:07 PM	some times in the army I would use the map of doughboy city as my event map. One dm I know uses pass events in his campaigns aka alamo and others. A teacher friend took that idea and set up a d&d lite and had her students game out some history moments in Icelandic history.
Hayabusa 03-01-05, 03:32 PM	Have any of you played a campaign clearly based on the current events of that time? Did it cause any friction between players of opposing ideologies? I DON'T want this to be a politically-charged flame-war, I'm just interested in how players might bring in politics or current events, consciously or sub-consciously. I don't really know if any of the current military engagements have been used as fodder for D&D games, but I know D20 Modern more than likely has. As for the war for resources, as many have already stated, wars for scarce resources has been a part of human history before we came down from the trees.
Shaitan0.2beta 03-01-05, 03:45 PM	Ho ho ho! Be very carefull with this topic. Don't post anything stupid. Don't get me excited. Please. Post anything pro-Bush, pro-Nazi, totalitarian, highly conservative or anything from that family of attitudes, and I shall be the one to start the flame war with no regard to my own well being. That is what chaotic good stands for.
Elendur 03-01-05, 03:52 PM	To the original poster: I'm curious, how is the world highly dependent on diamonds? They don't have much use in the real world, except for some drill bits and the like.
The Shaman 03-01-05, 04:35 PM	I don't really know if any of the current military engagements have been used as fodder for D&D games, but I know D20 Modern more than likely has. For my d20 Modern military game, I chose a conflict that is not well-known - click on the "free tour" link in my signature for details - specifically so that the players would have fewer preconceived notions about the campaign events and to preserve some of the sense of mystery that I find an essential ingredient in RPGs. With that in mind, I don't draw inspiration from current events so much as historical events, and the more obscure the better.
Particle_Man 03-01-05, 05:00 PM	To the original poster: I'm curious, how is the world highly dependent on diamonds? They don't have much use in the real world, except for some drill bits and the like. Many men like sex with women. Many women like bright shiny things like diamonds (and are taught by commercials to associated such with demonstrations of love). Men buy the diamonds to give to the women, in the hope of getting sex. This process if reinforced by various commercials, which show glamourous women wearing diamonds, and the commercials that say things like "for the 10th anniversary you have to get her a diamond bracelet or she will think you don't love her and you will never have sex with her again." In other words, the reasons are social, more than anything else. If you think I am wrong on this, try telling your girlfriend that you don't intend on buying a diamond engagement ring for her, since that just builds up the De Beers family. See how she reacts.
Shemeska the Marauder 03-01-05, 05:33 PM	Ho ho ho! Be very carefull with this topic. Don't post anything stupid. Don't get me excited. Please. Post anything pro-Bush, pro-Nazi, totalitarian, highly conservative or anything from that family of attitudes, and I shall be the one to start the flame war with no regard to my own well being. That is what chaotic good stands for. Political ideology of left/right has little to no relation to any DnD conceptions of lawful, chaotic, good, or evil. None whatsoever. The ignorant political barb was tactless.
Elendur 03-01-05, 06:02 PM	Many men like sex with women. Many women like bright shiny things like diamonds (and are taught by commercials to associated such with demonstrations of love). Men buy the diamonds to give to the women, in the hope of getting sex. This process if reinforced by various commercials, which show glamourous women wearing diamonds, and the commercials that say things like "for the 10th anniversary you have to get her a diamond bracelet or she will think you don't love her and you will never have sex with her again." In other words, the reasons are social, more than anything else. If you think I am wrong on this, try telling your girlfriend that you don't intend on buying a diamond engagement ring for her, since that just builds up the De Beers family. See how she reacts.The original poster mentioned dependency, so I was curious as to how the economy was driven by diamonds in the same way the real world is driven by oil. As to the rest of your rant, all I can say is I'm sorry. I gave my wife a Moissanite engagement ring and she was thrilled.
Molu Kai 03-01-05, 06:13 PM	As long as everyone involved is comfortable with it, I see no problem with basing DND campaigns on current or historical events. It's not much different then when an author does it (like George Orwell's Animal Farm, a political satire in a world different from our own). No one is forcing anyone to play in such a game, just like no one is forcing anyone to read a book they don't want to. In fact by constructing a scenario resembling a real life one, you may even get a better understanding of the point of view opposite to your own. I must admit I have never tried such a thing in any of my games, but would be interested to hear how your experience turns out. A couple of other points: -the previous poster was right about diamonds (and any precious stone/metal for that mater). Their value is arbitrary. However, countries have gone to war over much less. -Just a musing, but I would have figured DND players would lean toward the left of the political spectrum. Of course not everyone would be on the left, I just would have expected there would have been a slight leaning that way. -Of course, my perception may be skewed as my parents are vegetarian hippies.
Shemeska the Marauder 03-01-05, 06:44 PM	-Just a musing, but I would have figured DND players would lean toward the left of the political spectrum. Of course not everyone would be on the left, I just would have expected there would have been a slight leaning that way. -Of course, my perception may be skewed as my parents are vegetarian hippies. Oddly enough, I've found an ever so mildly right (economic, not social), or more properly, libertarian slant among my own generation (I'm 25) both at the gaming table, and in the population at large. More than anything, it's probably a reaction and rejection of the overall leftward slant that my generation's parents had. These things tend to go in cycles anyways with swings between mild left and right every few decades, though the ballot box may end up skewed more heavily one way or the other regardless.
Azual 03-01-05, 06:56 PM	Well, it is said that even Tolkien based himself on his experience in World War I when he wrote the Lord of the Rings, so it's not much of a stretch to imagine that many GMs use real world events as "inspiration" - the secret is to do it without the players blatantly realizing it. Sure, Tolkien did use WWI as some of his inspiriation, but its like saying Richard Wright based Native Son off of his experiences with Communism. WWI did inspire Tolkien, but not as much as something like Mythology.
Molu Kai 03-01-05, 07:00 PM	Oddly enough, I've found an ever so mildly right (economic, not social), or more properly, libertarian slant among my own generation (I'm 25) both at the gaming table, and in the population at large. More than anything, it's probably a reaction and rejection of the overall leftward slant that my generation's parents had. These things tend to go in cycles anyways with swings between mild left and right every few decades, though the ballot box may end up skewed more heavily one way or the other regardless. You're right, most people are probably close to center so your typical group would probably reflect that, leaning only slightly right or left. Economically, right makes sense, just to afford the books. lol. Not that I mind, I spend a fortune on them, and this just allows them to make more great books, which in turn gets me to spend more [repeat endlessly]. In a way it's too bad that the CoC doesn't allow in depth discussions on certain subjects (that being the case, I also understand why it's not allowed). However, D&D is a major interest of mine and I'm very curious about what other people who love the game think about certain "banned" topics. Incidently: Does anyone know a site for D&Ders where those kind of discussions are allowed?
Bluebrush 03-01-05, 07:24 PM	I saw one D20 Modern module once which was based on the Iraq War. I think Saddam was a Strong 5/Charismatic 5 Ordinary.
WizO_Catoblepas 03-01-05, 09:09 PM	Well, it was a matter of time until real-life political figures came up in the thread. (I don't blame the person who posted this since these type of posts usually lead to them.) At any rate, discussion of real life political or religious perons or organizations is against the Code of Conduct. Regrettably, I'm going to have to close the thread.